I recently received correspondence from the Department of Health and Social Care asking me to recommend any particular health service within the Newbury constituency that I would like to see singled out for support.

I have spoken at length with local GPs, West Berkshire’s Clinical Commissioning Group lead, and school heads in recent months and have been told repeatedly about current lengthy delays for mental health treatments and diagnoses. This has long-term implications for the personal and educational development of young people and, where diagnoses of learning difficulties are also involved, can have very serious ramifications for their educational outcomes.

I know that properly funded mental health services are a priority issue for all my constituents and rest assured I will not let up on making these requests of the Department of Health and the Treasury. However, for this round of funding I have put children and young adults as my focus and will let you know when I hear back from Matt Hancock.